Generally, those derivative contracts entered into under an ISDA Master Agreement. Two rookie mistakes to avoid:

  • Firstly, it's pronounced "sw-ŏp" (to rhyme with chop), but it's spelled "swap". Any fan of 1970s children's television will know this. It is not, however, true that Noel Edmonds was a pioneering derivative salesman, but that would make a great play. On no account should you say "sw-æp" (to rhyme with "crap"), unless you want derivatives insiders to dine out on your misfortune for many years. I still tell people about an unfortunate partner of Stephenson Harwood who made this mistake in 1997.
  • Secondly, you say "isder", not "eye - ess - dee - aye". This was a closely guarded industry in-joke, designed to reveal ingénues, but sadly the maker of The Big Short have rumbled it.

What - you want actual information about swaps? Go to the ISDA Anatomy